Geography
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Intent |
At The Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School, our geography curriculum aims to inspire pupils to become curious and explorative thinkers with a diverse knowledge of the world; in other words, to think like a geographer.
We want pupils to develop the confidence to question and observe places, measure and record necessary data in various ways, and analyse and present their findings. Through our scheme of work, we aim to build an awareness of how Geography shapes our lives at multiple scales and over time.
We hope to encourage pupils to become resourceful, active citizens who will have the skills to contribute to and improve the world around them.
Our curriculum encourages:
- A strong focus on developing both geographical skills and knowledge.
- Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
- The development of fieldwork skills across each year group.
- A deep interest and knowledge of pupils’ locality and how it differs from other areas of the world.
- A growing understanding of geographical terms and vocabulary.
Our geography curriculum enables pupils to meet the end of key stage attainment targets in the National curriculum. The aims also align with those in the National curriculum.
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Implementation The National curriculum organises the Geography attainment targets under four subheadings or strands:
At The Holy Spirit we have designed a geography curriculum which has a clear progression of skills and knowledge within these four strands across each year group. Our progression of skills and knowledge shows the skills taught within each year group and how these develop to ensure that attainment targets are securely met by the end of each key stage. Our Long Term Plan (LTP) document shows essential Key Knowledge taught in each term and skills revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. The LTP has been devised in conjunction with the history subject leader to ensure that the humanities complement each other throughout the year. These cross-curricular links allow children to make connections and apply their Geography skills to other areas of learning. Geography runs on a two-year rolling programme in both key stages and is delivered termly, ensuring coverage of the National Curriculum strands. Our enquiry questions form the basis for our units, meaning that pupils gain a solid understanding of geographical knowledge and skills by applying them to answer enquiry questions. We have designed these questions to be open-ended with no preconceived answers and therefore they are genuinely purposeful and engage pupils in generating a real change. In attempting to answer them, children learn how to collect, interpret and present data using geographical methodologies and make informed decisions by applying their geographical knowledge. Each unit contains elements of geographical skills and fieldwork skills. Fieldwork skills are practised as often as possible. Fieldwork can include smaller opportunities on the school grounds to larger-scale visits to investigate physical and human features. Developing fieldwork skills within the school environment and revisiting them enables pupils to consolidate their understanding of various methods. It also gives children the confidence to evaluate methodologies without always having to leave the school grounds and do so within the confines of a familiar place. This makes fieldwork regular and accessible while giving children a thorough understanding of their locality, providing a solid foundation when comparing it with other places. Lessons incorporate various teaching strategies from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical hands-on, computer-based and collaborative tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with a variety of learning styles. Teachers can differentiate lessons to ensure that all pupils can access learning, and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available. Knowledge organisers are being developed for each unit support pupils in building a foundation of factual knowledge by encouraging recall of key facts and vocabulary. Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to deliver a highly effective and robust Geography curriculum. Each unit of lessons has been designed with a specialist. We also have a subscription to the Geographical Association which has multiple teacher videos to develop subject knowledge and support CPD. The Geography curriculum has been created with the understanding that many teachers do not feel confident delivering the full Geography curriculum, and every effort has been made to ensure that they feel supported to deliver lessons of a high standard that ensure pupil progression. Impact Our enquiry-based approach to learning allows teachers to assess children against the National curriculum expectations for geography. The impact of our curriculum is constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each unit of work includes Key Knowledge to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. Furthermore, teachers can design a lesson/ unit quiz (low stakes questioning) from the knowledge organiser, which can be used at the start, end or mid unit to assess children’s understanding. Opportunities for children to present their findings using their geographical skills will also form part of the assessment process in each unit. At The Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School, pupils leave school equipped with a range of skills and knowledge to enable them to study Geography with confidence at Key stage 3. We hope to shape children into curious and inspired geographers with respect and appreciation for the world around them alongside an understanding of the interconnection between the human and the physical. The expected impact of following our geography curriculum is that children will:
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